As a manager, your success isn’t measured by what you accomplish alone—it’s about what you make happen with the resources you have.
And the most important resource you have is your staff.
Here are four ways that making your staff look good helps you look good, and helps you advance yourself within your organization:
1. Get your staff involved
Whenever there are new projects or initiatives, give your staff an opportunity to be involved so they can contribute their knowledge and experience and develop themselves for future opportunities.
This includes putting them on committees and getting them involved in special projects, both within your own department and in other areas of the company, including corporate initiatives.
You will provide your staff members with opportunities for growth while at the same time gaining better insight and possibly a better channel for influence within those initiatives.
2. Give your staff exposure
Invite your staff to senior management meetings or presentations where they will be seen by other decision makers in the company. Instead of speaking or presenting about things in your area of responsibility at those meetings, have the relevant staff member deliver the presentation.
Even if they are not allowed to stay for the entire meeting for confidentiality reasons, making an appearance will be valuable to them professionally even while it demonstrate the strength of your department’s resources.
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3. Always give your staff credit
Yes, you are the manager and the person who is ultimately responsible for success in your group, but keeping credit to yourself isn’t the way to look good.
Your best bet is to give credit to the staff members who did the work with your support and guidance.
Letting your staff get credit for the great work they do allows you to take the credit for being a great leader and manager who enables their employees to succeed.
This not only is an authentic and fair way to manage, it shows your own senior managers that you are good at hiring, developing, and nurturing great talent and getting things done.
You will also gain loyalty from your staff, who will appreciate being recognized for their contributions.
4. Advocate for your staff’s promotion or development
It is hard to let a great staff member go, and while it always means more effort on your part to replace them, you are doing both your staff and your organization a favor.
Instead of holding back staff because they make you more successful, work to develop and promote your staff into other areas in the company. This includes advocating for them to be promoted or to get temporary assignments, even lateral ones, that help the employee develop their career.
This practice shows your leadership skills as well as your support for both your own staff and your organization as a whole. You will end up with loyal staff members in your group who see you as an champion for their career growth. You will also cultivate allies within your organization as your staff take on other higher responsibilities, and you will gain respect from senior management and the HR Department who will see you as a team player who supports the company’s success.
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